


The Chronology of a Relationship

by barricadebutts



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, M/M, deaf! Specs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 04:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3714442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barricadebutts/pseuds/barricadebutts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into how Romeo and Specs came to be in a relationship going by the times they see each other</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chronology of a Relationship

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Newsies Winterslump WritingSwap. My person wanted Romeo/Specs with deaf! and dancer! Specs. Specs is deaf but I didn’t talk about it that much but I'm totally planning to write a follow up talking more in depth about him and how he went deaf.

The first time Romeo meets Specs is when he goes to see Katherine in their college production of Swan Lake. Sure, ballets aren’t really his thing, but there isn’t a shot in hell that he would miss one of his best friends in the lead of such a beautiful production…so Jack talks him into it quite easily.

Before the show starts, he finds Jack sitting in the audience already and sits next to him. David finds them as the houselights are flashing, Darcy attached to his arm, and they sit in relative silence and awe until the first act is through and they’re able to talk amongst themselves. They make idle conversation, Jack teasing David about why they were late even though David keeps telling him they were doing none of what the other boy is insinuating.

It isn’t until the second act is well under way that Romeo notices one of the dancers behind Katherine for the first time. Like, _really_ notices one of them. He can’t see much except that the guy is a painfully amazing dancer that should definitely be the lead instead of whoever it says on the program.

Romeo spends the rest of the show alternating between watching Katherine and watching this other boy.

After the show ends Jack, David, Darcy, and him make their way to the stage where Katherine meets them before going into the back to change. Jack gives her a quick kiss on the lips and pulls her close to his side, wrapping an arm around her waste while she rests her head on his shoulder.

“So, did you guys like the show?” She ventures to ask and David practically scoffs.

“Oh please, everyone was amazing—including you. Anyone who didn’t like it clearly wasn’t paying attention,” David exclaims and Romeo looks from him to Katherine and nods his head in agreement.

“You were so great Katherine. You totally deserved to be up there in the lead.”

Katherine smiles triumphantly and blushes a little. “Well thank you very much. I can definitely promise you that I would not have been able to do it without all the support. The others said they’d come tomorrow, right?”

Jack gives her a quick peck on the check. “You betcha, Ace. They were real sad they couldn’t come tonight but work is work.” He shrugs his shoulders and pats her on the shoulder supportively. “Let’s go get you a shower so that we can go out for a celebratory drink,” he finishes before pushing her off stage.

“Why, Mr. Kelly…”

The two of them walk off leaving Romeo alone with David and Darcy. David makes some off-hand excuse that he forgot something in his dorm room—probably a jacket now that Romeo thinks—and drags Darcy away to fetch it before Jack and Katherine get back.

Sighing, Romeo makes his way to the front of the stage and sits down, legs swinging off the edge. He sits there for maybe five minutes before a voice behind him speaks up incredibly close to his face. He jumps a few inches and turns around abruptly to face his attacker. Romeo’s about to make some smart-ass comment to the guy when he recognizes the figure kneeled behind him. Crouched behind him was the dancer who he couldn’t stop watching all second act. Up close Romeo notices that he’s also painfully attractive along with his dancing. He’s got curly blond hair and tortoiseshell glasses that make his eyes looks like an owl perched on the edge of his nose. The Henley he’s got thrown on feels positively obscene in Romeo’s eyes so he quickly asks the question he had meant to before getting distracted.

“Do you normally sneak up on guys sitting on the edge of the stage?”

The boy smiles and takes his back pack off of the shoulder and sits down next to Romeo and smiles. “Nah, but you’re a friend of Katherine’s so you’re not that much of a stranger. I’m Matt by the way, but my friends call me Specs,” he speaks with a cool air and Romeo can’t help but want to get to know him.

“Daniel, but my friends all call me Romeo. Tell me Specs, why aren’t you leading the show?” Specs gives him a funny look and Romeo quickly rethinks. “I mean, you’re such a good dancer, why are you just apart of the ensemble instead of one of the leads? You seem like you’ve certainly got the skill to do it.”

Specs clears his throat and glances down at his hands in his lap. “Well, that’s uh… that’s a long story and I don’t think your friends are going to be gone for that long. I’ll tell you what though, maybe if I ever see you again you’ll find out?” Romeo’s puzzled at the cryptic answer and laughs to himself quietly.

“Yeah maybe. Hey, do you want to come out for drinks with us tonight? Katherine should be coming back with Jack in a few minutes and we’ll probably find David up against the building outside with Darcy so it shouldn’t be too much longer.” Specs laughs at the imagery but regrettably shakes his head.

“As fun as that sounds, I’ve got a chemistry lab due tomorrow at one that sadly won’t do itself. Maybe another time though?”

Romeo nods and is about to say something else when Katherine and Jack come back on stage with a newly washed and clothed Katherine. They’re talking animatedly about something but stop when Katherine sees Specs. Specs jumps up from where he’s sitting and goes to hug her to which she returns gratefully. “You did swell tonight, kid,” she exclaims.

“Oh please, no one compares to you Miss Pulitzer. You were a star tonight and you’ll be a star tomorrow night and probably the night after that as well.”

Katherine laughs and pats him on the back. “You coming out for drinks with us or what?”

“Nah, I’ve got a chemistry lab that’s due tomorrow. I was telling my new friend Romeo that maybe I’ll catch up with you later?”

She nods her head and he turns back to Romeo before making his exit. “It was really nice to meet you Romeo. I’ll see around?” Romeo nods and watches his back as he goes, completely oblivious to Katherine staring at him.

“He’s a gonner. Don’t you think, Jack?”

Jack looks over at his girlfriend and nods dramatically. “Oh, for sure. Our Romeo here has a little crush on Specs it would seem.”

Romeo just looks over in their direction and can’t help but blush. 

\---------------

The second time he sees Specs is when he’s working at Starbucks that following Wednesday. It’s around 10:30 in the morning and Romeo’s working the checkout when the boy with blond curly hair and tortoiseshell glasses pushes his way through the door, the bells above jingling to signal a new patron.

He looks around for a minute before his eyes come to rest on Romeo’s big brown ones; a grin on his face as he walks up to the counter and sets his hands on it. He doesn’t say anything for a minute while he looks at the menu so Romeo decides to talk first.

“I was wondering when I was going to run into you again.”

Specs looks down at him and smiles.  “I told you I’d see you again. I like your hat by the way.”

Romeo blushes and takes it off momentarily to smooth down his dark hair self-consciously. “Believe me, if I didn’t have to wear it, I wouldn’t. I’ve found it gives me awful hat hair,” he jokes.

“I think it looks cute on you—hat hair included.” Specs grins and looks down for a split second, which causes Romeo to notice something attached to the top of Specs’ ear.

Romeo figures it’s probably not his place to ask but he hears the words coming out of his mouth before he’s able to stop himself. “Are you deaf?”

Specs looks up quickly and blushes bright red and Romeo finds himself feeling guilty for bringing it up so abruptly and acting so surprised. “Uh, yeah. I have been for about two years now actually. It’s kind of a long story,” he sums up briefly. Romeo thinks Specs looks like he’s caught in an awkward situation and finds himself trying to figure out a way to fix it.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up. It wasn’t necessarily appropriate given that we’re simply acquaintances.” The words sound ungodly formal to the point that Romeo wants to gag but Specs doesn’t get to say anything because Romeo’s manager walks up behind him with a snarky reply ready on his tongue as per usual.

“You’re right, Daniel, that was completely inappropriate. You’re a coffee barista, not a reporter. So do your job and take the young man’s order.”

Specs clears his throat and thankfully comes to Romeo’s rescue. “Actually, he’s a friend of mine and we’ve just never talked about it. Don’t know why though, it’s a hell of a story.” Specs gives Romeo a quick wink and directs his attention back to the manager.

“Well I’m sure you two can discuss it when he gets off work in fifteen minutes and not a second sooner. Consider this a warning, Simmons.” Romeo’s manager walks away leaving an equally as red Romeo as Specs had been moments before.

“Thanks for that,” he half whispers across the counter.

Specs shrugs and smiles. “I guess I’ll see you in fifteen minutes then?”

Romeo smiles and almost lets Specs walk away before remembering that he didn’t order anything. “Wait, don’t you want anything?”

“Surprise me,” he answers in a voice that’s trying to be mysterious but just sounds giddy at the situation at hand.

\---------------     

It’s around the fourth or fifth time that Romeo sees Specs that the latter asks him out on a dinner date. Well—more like a ‘let’s grab coffee after rehearsal one night just the two of us and just enjoy each other’s company’.

It’s on the fifth or sixth time that Specs doesn’t take him to a Starbucks much to Romeo’s relief (he gets enough of that place on a daily basis and doesn’t need any extra reminder on days he doesn’t work).

They end up going to this quaint little hole in the wall spot off campus that Romeo’s never heard of before. He finds that he actually likes it and admits to Specs around a mouthful of scone that it’s one of the best places he’s ever had coffee at. Specs just laughs at him and reaches across the table to wipe crumbs from Romeo’s cheek.

It’s nearly an hour and a half later when Specs drags Romeo out into the lingering March chill and on a route that is in the exact opposite direction of his dorm. He tries to tell Specs but the other boy just quiets him and tells him to enjoy the moment. He tries to do as Specs says but Romeo can’t help thinking about how his English paper will feel about this later tonight.

The two of them end up getting to know each other better for the rest of the night. It’s essentially a game of twenty questions but with less strict rules. Romeo’ll ask Specs two or three questions at a time before the latter will interject with his own questions. Romeo learns that Specs has been dancing since he was five years old and it currently majoring in ballet at school (Romeo thought he might be but couldn’t be 100% sure until someone told him so). He learns that his favorite color is teal and that his eyesight is so bad that he can’t see more than two feet in front of him without glasses. What doesn’t come up though is the long story about how Specs went deaf two years ago. Romeo figures that maybe he’ll learn in time since he is _not_ about to repeat the Starbucks incident.

Specs ends up walking Romeo back to his dorm and kisses him goodbye on the cheek and Romeo’s stomach does that flippy thing that’s simultaneously amazing but awful at the same time. If his English paper ends up sucking it’s probably due to the fact that he can’t stop thinking about Specs all night.

 ---------------

They kiss for real the thirteenth time they see each other. Romeo goes to see Specs in rehearsal one night when he’s been assigned minimal homework. The company is practicing in the auditorium today, Romeo seated out in the audience with his math book perched in his lap. He vaguely hears the clapping of the instructor keeping tempo and making a few changes here and there in the back of his mind.

He’s so absorbed in his work that he doesn’t notice Specs walk up the aisle and practically collapse into the seat next to him. “Hey,” Specs says and Romeo looks up startled.

“Is rehearsal over already?” Romeo asks in a sad voice. He had wanted to watch the company practice in a more intimate setting than a full-blown performance setting but now he thinks he’s missed his opportunity.

Specs smiles and shakes his head. “Nah, we’re on a ten minute break actually. Simone’s going through a tough time and had to go call her lawyer for something so she just gave us a ten. Speaking of which, can I talk to you outside?”

Romeo nods and tries to ignore the negative feeling in his gut as he closes his book to put it down on the seat next to him. “Lead the way.”

Once they get outside the building, Specs pulls Romeo off to the side so that he’s leaning against the sun-warmed building. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“This is probably out of complete nowhere but I just wanted to tell you that I think I really like you? I didn’t think it could wait any longer and I figured the sooner I told you would be the sooner I stopped messing up in there and stop getting yelled at and--‘’ Specs is cut off by Romeo kissing him in a moment of rash decision. Before he realizes what he’s doing, he’s leaning up on his tiptoes and planting his lips firmly against the other boy’s in an effort to get Specs to just _stop talking._ When he pulls away Specs is looking at him with wonder in his eyes and it makes Romeo want to lean in and kiss him again.

“You were really messing up in there because of this?” Romeo gestures between the two of them and Specs nods sheepishly. He laughs and this time doesn’t resist the urge to grab onto the front of Specs’ shirt to pull him back down for another kiss. Romeo registers the other boy’s hands gripping at his waist and smiles against his lips. “You need to get your head in the dance because I’m pretty sure your instructor’s got enough on her plate without you messing up every eight counts because of some boy.”

“Did you just vaguely try and quote High School Musical?” Specs asks, leaning his head against Romeo’s. Romeo shrugs his shoulders and breaks out into laughter shortly after.

The two stand outside for a few minutes longer before Specs looks down at his wrist and sighs. “We should probably go back inside. I’ve only got like two minutes before Simone’s going to be yelling at me to get back to the stage and I’d prefer to not deal with that today.”

Romeo nods and pushes himself off of the wall he had come to lean on and pulls Specs towards the building. He goes to open the second set of doors before Specs stops him and kisses him quickly once more, leaving Romeo in stunned silence as his love interest/boyfriend/whatever they were now swung open the door and stepped back inside the theatre.

For the next hour, Romeo literally gets no homework done and spends the entire time watching Specs dance flawlessly across the stage doing God only knows what.


End file.
